Amber LED matrices are my favorite tech for signage. The individual LEDs are sunken into the black matrix to provide extra contrast from direct light exposure.

Amber LED matrices are my favorite tech for signage. The individual LEDs are sunken into the black matrix to provide extra contrast from direct light exposure. There's nothing that comes close for public signage that needs to be placed outdoors. These are by far not cheap though. Still, this article is about 7 segment displays. It's a quirky article, but I get the point: many people abuse 7-segment displays as an aesthetic choice where there wouldn't be no point in it. 7 and 16-segment displays can still be a superb choice in many scenarios. The contrast is still unmatched to other display techs. For bench instruments, 7-segment displays (especially the VFD ones) are much more readable than the alternatives IMHO. The second best choice IMHO is OLED, however glare in bright environments is still worse, and getting a large OLED gets expensive very quickly. For big machinery, a large 7-segment display can be read across the room in any condition. A large readable display on a lathe is much better in terms of safety than an smaller OLED display, even considering the chance of a stuck segment.